Park Dads
by Gerkyhen
Summary: Post War. Sasuke takes his daughter to the park for some quiet time, but with friends like his, there's no such thing as quiet time. No obvious pairings, though some are made obsolete by the content of the story.


Park Dads

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_Summary: Sasuke takes his daughter to the park for some quiet time, but with friends like his, there's no such thing as quiet time._

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Soft downy hair, so thin and fine that Sasuke can see her scalp underneath the black strands, pink and innocent and delicate. Eyelashes so long that they rested upon her chubby white cheeks, soft and pale.

Sasuke reached out and stroked his daughter's face lightly with one of his fingers, taking care not to wake her up. Akari Uchiha was the most important thing in Sasuke's life. He would have never thought he'd be able to comprehend the amount of love it was possible to feel for another person, but here was the living proof that Sasuke would give himself utterly if there came a moment that called for it.

Akari Uchiha was the light that Sasuke had always been searching for and though he'd been pulled out of the darkness long ago now, he still couldn't help but feel that Akari would always keep him in the light. Not the moon light, with darkness on all sides, but the sunlight, in which one could bathe and feel the warmth.

At his touch, Akari let out a small huff from her tiny nose and Sasuke cuddled her in closer, gazing down at her with a fondness in his eyes that only a select few other people ever got to see.

A slight wind blew past, raising Sasuke's fringe and dancing through Akari's hair, but other than the occasional bird song, the park in the middle of the Hidden Leaf Village was quiet…that was until Suigetsu Hozuki arrived on the scene bringing his usual brand of brash loudness with him.

"We're going to the park, park, park!"

"We're going to the park, park, park!"

"To swing on the swings, swings, swings!"

"To swing on the swings, swings, swings!"

Suigetsu had been accepted into Konoha almost ten years ago now. It had been a hard battle to be accepted, but eventually, once he had served a short sentence and it was proved that he had aided Konoha in the Great Fourth Ninja War, he was allowed to become a citizen, and a ninja, of the Hidden Leaf.

Suigetsu was one of Sasuke's best friends, but nonetheless the man couldn't help the glare that crept onto his face as the former Mist Ninja sang his way loudly into the area.

The small echo following the Hozuki belonged to his daughter Misaki, who was six years old and utterly adored her father, probably because he was just as immature as her. It didn't take long for Suigetsu to spot Sasuke.

"Hey!" He waved, lumbering over with a now shy looking Misaki in tow. "Hey, you brought your thing!" Upon reaching Sasuke, Suigetsu pointed down at Akari. "I brought my thing too!" He turned and gestured at Misaki who waved shyly at Sasuke.

Sasuke gave the girl a brisk smile and then looked up at Suigetsu. "Don't call my daughter a 'thing.'"

Suigetsu looked a little confused at his order but eventually shrugged, retrieving his water from his belt as he did so. "'Aight, you're the papa," he declared, before looking to Misaki. "Go swing." He ordered.

Doing as she was told, Misaki rushed off, her white blonde hair shining in the faint autumn sun that was reigning down upon them all. Suigetsu smiled as he watched her run off and then seated himself next to Sasuke with a loud sigh. Sasuke shuffled to the side slightly, clutching his daughter tighter and gifting his friend a glare.

Suigetsu seemingly didn't notice the other man's attitude as he let out another content sigh and then raised his head to look up at the sky above them.

"Nice day eh? Still, I think I'd rather be asleep, but you know the whole deal with wife dearest," the former mist ninja's eyes narrowed and he took a sip of his drink. "Never a moment's peace allowed,"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at this comment; though Suigetsu argued a lot with his wife, the two were not in any trouble relationship wise whatsoever. In fact, the Uchiha privately thought they could be a bit too sickeningly sweet together, especially once they'd had a few too many sake bowls and got all handsy with each other.

Suigetsu's eyes slid to the side and he registered Sasuke's unsubtle glower. Grinning, the Hozuki reached out and slammed his fist into his friend's shoulder, causing Sasuke to tense up and his glare to reach maximum Uchiha annoyance level.

"Cheer up Sauce-Kay!" The mist ninja shuffled a little closer and then peered at Akari. "She's getting big!" He declared. "How old is she now?"

"7 months." Sasuke replied, his tone becoming less clipped now as they entered a topic he enjoyed speaking about.

"7 months, really?" Suigetsu looked back down at Akari and then a sly grin curled onto his lips. "She's pretty chubby for 7 months, don't you think?"

Sasuke tensed immediately.

"What've you guys been feeding her? Dango for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? For shame Sasu-"

"Shut up. She's not fat," Sasuke interrupted immediately. "Shut up." He repeated.

Suigetsu's grin stretched even wider and then he shrugged. "I'm just sayin'-"

Sasuke's response to this was to turn his back slightly on the other man, making the mist ninja bark out a laugh.

"You're far too easy!" He declared, getting to his feet.

Sasuke turned back and glowered at him, watching as the other man approached his daughter from behind, shocked the life out of her and then began chasing her around the swing set.

So Suigetsu could be a bit brash and annoying sometimes, but Sasuke had to admit the mist ninja had shocked a lot of people with his capabilities as a father, no least his own wife, who, while pregnant, had declared she was divorcing him no less than twenty times- though she had always come back round once Suigetsu brought her flowers and ice cream cake.

As Sasuke was mulling this over, he became aware of a tickling sensation under his nose. Blinking, the Uchiha looked down, only to find the tickling sensation was now gone, and there was a piece of grass waving above Akari's nose, making the baby scrunch up her face as it danced across her skin. There was a slight giggle from behind Sasuke, and the man's face dropped. Keeping Akari safe cradled in one arm, the Uchiha reached out and grasped the grass in his fist, ripping it from Naruto's hand and crushing it up, all in one swift movement.

"Aww, Sasuke! Why'd you ruin it!?" The Uzumaki's loud voice rattled through Sasuke's bones, and the Uchiha turned to give him the most hate filled look he could muster.

"Keep it down dobe, Akari's trying to sleep!" He hissed back.

Naruto let out an exaggerated sigh and then hopped over the bench to sit next to his best friend. "Babies are so boring when they're sleeping," he declared, not lowering the tone of his voice one iota. "Now do you know what's fun? Bein-"

"-Hokage," Sasuke interrupted. "Yes, we know, you're the Hokage now. You have been for five years, at some point you're going to have to get over it."

"Since when was that in the rules!?" Came Naruto's rebuttal.

"It's a new law," Sasuke retorted. "What **isn't **a new law however, is keeping your voice down around sleeping babies. Shut **up**."

Naruto waved one of his hands in an offhand way. "It won't wake up, don't worry."

"What is it with you people and calling babies 'its'?" Sasuke demanded. "She's a she."

"I know she's a she!" Naruto responded immediately. The man turned and reached out a finger to poke Akari on the nose. "I'm her favourite uncle aren't I!? Aren't I Akari? Akari?"

Sasuke's teeth grinding was so loud that even Suigetsu and Misaki looked up.

"She's **asleep **Naruto."

"I know that!"

"Don't you have any Hokage duties you should be getting to?"

"Not until 9."

"That doesn't sound right."

"What? **I'm **the Hokage, **I **make the time."

"Can you make this interaction go faster then? Because you're driving me insane, dobe."

Naruto seemingly did not hear this insult, as, instead of responding, he brought out his hands and grinned. "Let me hold her then."

"No. You'll drop her."

"I've held her before!"

"You wouldn't have if I had anything to do with it."

Naruto pouted. "Sasuke! How am I supposed to bond with her and become her super awesome inspiration in life if you won't even let me hold her!?"

Sasuke blinked for a few moments, taking the sentence in before raising his eyebrows. "There is no way in hell that I would ever let that scenario happen. I would have to be dead first."

"I'm the Hokage, I can make that happen."

There was a pause and the two men glared at each other, Naruto slowly extending his arms outwards again, reaching for the baby. Sasuke sighed.

"Fine," he grumbled. "But be **careful**." He handed his daughter gingerly over to his best friend.

Naruto scooped Akari up with ease, grinning down at her wildly. "She's so cute!" He announced. "Looks nothing like you."

"I know but be car-" Sasuke paused and then his eyes narrowed. "She does look like me." He retorted.

Naruto tipped Akari to the side slightly, examining her face, causing Sasuke to reach outwards again, forming a safety net with his hands underneath Naruto's cradle.

"I don't see it." Naruto said in reply.

This comment brought a slight pout to Sasuke's lips. "Everyone else says she looks like me."

Naruto pulled a face, jutting out his bottom lip in apparent complementation. "I just don't see it. It's not a **bad **thing though, just means she could be anyone's kid."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed to slits. "Give her back." He hissed, grabbing his daughter as gently as he could from the Uzumaki, who was now giggling.

Just as Sasuke was considering sticking a kunai in the other man's hand, Shikamaru arrived on the scene. The Nara looked glum, he was holding a bag of groceries in one hand, while supporting his two year old son with the other. As the man drew closer, it became apparent that Jun Nara shared no personality traits with his father, at least at this age, as the boy was beating loudly on his dad's chest, a grin on his face as he loudly and energetically repeated the word 'Baka, baka, baka!' over and over again.

Surreptitiously, Sasuke covered his daughter's ears.

"Anyone want a son?" Shikamaru arrived at the bench Sasuke and Naruto were sitting upon, his eyes almost lifeless.

Jun turned to look at the two men on the bench and grinned widely at them. "Baka!" He declared, pointing at Sasuke. "Baka!" He repeated, then pointing at Naruto. "Baka!" He jabbed at Akari.

Despite himself, Sasuke found that he was glaring fiercely at the young boy. He grabbed Akari closer to him.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Naruto exclaimed. "How's the second baby coming along?"

"Just great," Shikamaru replied, sitting down on the bench next to the blond with a sigh. "My better half is having a whale of a time."

"Because she's so fat?" Naruto asked innocently.

Shikamaru and Sasuke looked over at the boy.

"Because she's pregnant I mean." Said Naruto hastily.

Shikamaru let out another pained sigh and then shrugged, moving to rub the back of his neck before realising he still had his hands full, literally. "Yeah, why not? Let's go with that."

"Swing! Jun swing!" Declared Jun suddenly.

Shikamaru grumbled something quietly, but then got to his feet, smiling down at his son. "Sure kid, let's go." Then he and his son moved over to the swing set, Jun running ahead on chubby legs.

"Hey Shikamaru!" Suigetsu greeted as the other man approached.

"Daddy, a pineapple!" Said Misaki loudly.

"Eheheheh, quiet down now Misaki, Shikamaru could still decide to take back his vote to keep daddy out of jail."

There was a rustling sound and Sasuke turned to look at Naruto, only to find the Uzumaki had started going through Shikamaru's groceries.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" The Uchiha questioned blankly, watching as the other man stuck his head into the bag.

"Shikamaru usually buys an extra bag of crisps or something to share with Choji and I-Ah!" The blond retrieved a jumbo pack of crisps and began tearing them open, turning a grin onto Sasuke as he did so. "Choji won't miss 'em."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And I'm sure even if he did, you'd pull the 'Hokage' card, right?"

"Hey, you're catching on!" Naruto grinned.

"Oi!"

Both Sasuke and Naruto turned, only to see Kiba standing behind them.

"Oh hey Kiba! Back from your mission?" Naruto asked, turning to offer some of the crisps to Kiba and his three daughters.

As it stood, Kiba had the greatest amount of children out of the original Rookie Nine, thanks to having triplets. Kayoko, Koemi, and Kumiko Inuzuka were exactly the type of children one would expect an Inuzuka to be like, wild and brash. Even now, as Naruto offered the crisps to their father, the three girls stormed forwards, grabbing a fistful of crisps each and leaving the Hokage with nothing but a greasy packet. Naruto withdrew his offer hastily, looking sad once he realised he was now without food.

Kiba laughed as he watched his daughters and then turned his grin onto Naruto. Hands on hips, he nodded proudly. "Yup! Thanks for sending me Uzumaki, I made quick work of it."

"Yeah well," Naruto made a show of yawning. "There weren't many other choices."

Kiba's face dropped immediately. "Shut up Naruto! Just because you're Hokage doesn't mean I won't take you down in a second!"

Naruto bristled. "Who are you kidding? I beat you at everything!"

Kiba's eyes narrowed and he patted his children on their heads, indicating they should run off to play on the park, which they did, all of them yelling loudly.

"Whatever," the Inuzuka managed once his daughters were gone. He sat down heavily on the bench, glowering. "How many kids do you have Naruto? None, and I have three. I win."

"I have one!" Naruto returned heatedly. "It's just not born yet! And who knows, it might turn out to be triplets too! No, quadruplets! No, octuplets!"

"I'm sure your wife will be just thrilled." Sasuke remarked dryly.

"Naruto, you're just jealous because my sperm's faster than yours."

"That's not true! If we were in a race, **I **would win!"

"Prove it!"

"How?"

"Let's race around the playground now, whoever wins has the fastest sperm!"

"You've got a deal!"

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works…" Sasuke trailed off once he realised neither man was listening to him, both of them shooting off. How the pair of them had managed to stay so damn immature over the course of so many years was a mystery to the Uchiha, but at least he was alone no-

"Hello."

Restraining a sigh, Sasuke turned to see that Shino had sat down next to him, holding a stuffed bee toy.

"Hn." He returned.

There was a slight giggle, and the Uchiha glanced back at Shino again, only to realise that the thing he had thought was a toy was actually Shino's son, dressed up.

"Is your kid dressed as a bee?" He asked.

Shino did not look away from the playground as he set his son down on the floor. "Yes." He replied steadily, watching as his bee child began moving towards the slide, weaving one way and then the next.

"Oh."

"Are Naruto and Kiba fighting to prove who has the strongest sperm again?" Shino enquired after a little while.

Sasuke looked over to see that Kiba and Naruto were indeed fighting, rolling around in the dirt.

"It started out as a race." He returned.

"Ah."

The two became silent again, watching as the fight soon turned into what was apparently a climbing contest, as both Inuzuka and Uzumaki grabbed onto a monkey bar and began moving back and forth.

"They've done this before?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Shino said. "Lots of times."

"Hn." Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked down at Akari, only to see she'd awoken, her large eyes, framed by dark black lashes, blinking once and again as she became acclimatised to where she was. Immediately Sasuke's heart softened. "Hello." He whispered.

At his voice, a small smile appeared on Akari's face and she burped out a giggle, causing Sasuke's heart to swell. He pulled the girl closer to him and gently tickled her neck with one of his fingers, causing the girl to giggle again.

Dragging his eyes away from his daughter, the Uchiha looked up to see that Rock Lee and his daughter (who looked scarily like her father, right down to the eyebrows), had joined Kiba and Naruto's climbing contest. There was a shuffling sound next to him and Sasuke looked down, only to see Choji was rummaging through Shikamaru's bag. Upon realising he was being watched, the Akimichi looked up. He gestured to the bag.

"Did Naruto go through this?" He demanded.

Sasuke gave the boy a cursory nod, and Choji's teeth gritted immediately.

"Again!" He exclaimed before turning and marching towards the playground. "Naruto!"

Naruto jumped down off the monkey bars after hearing his name and then immediately took flight, running to hide behind Shikamaru and Suigetsu, who were both still pushing their children on the swings, Jun still loudly proclaiming 'baka!', and Misaki still, at intervals, making innocent enquiries about Shikamaru's head shape.

Sasuke looked back down at Akari, only to see she'd fallen asleep again. A soft smile curved onto his lips once more and he leant down, kissing her gently on the forehead.

There was always going to be light.

Sasuke looked up again and couldn't help but shake his head and smile as he watched his Konoha comrades on the playground.

Akari was always going to be in the light.


End file.
